Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Okay so I am now staying with Andrew Astolos, a skater from Michigan who i've known since I started skating  at big meets. He and his dad have been staying in this amazing beach appartment in Huntington Beach. He also happens to drive (with a full license even though he's younger than me - Michigan u get ur permit at 151/2) a Beamer 325 convertible. This house is the story though. From the garage, you walk into a semi-covered area with a glass table and chairs, a grill, and a jacuzzi. Inside, it is huge, but not upwise, more like long and narrow. There's great internet and it is literally 5 minutes from Huntington Main. Yesterday we got home, relaxed, ate some food, went on the internet and then just relaxed on one of the nicest beaches in the area for three hours, and then dragged ourselves off and went to beach training. Beach training was super hard and long but Wilma immediately noticed how my one-legged jumps are getting much more explosive. It was a great workout and at the end i went in the ocean again which was as nice as always.
  This morning Wilma actually said she was happy with me! I was happy too. I am really getting strong enough to put into effect the technique i've been striving towards this whole time. I am going much faster for much longer as a result. I led at 9.4 for two laps after a workout of 13 laps at high nines, 9 laps at 9.6, 6 laps at 9.4, and 4 laps all out. i was not able to do all these of course, and nobody held the times perfectly, but I was super tired when I led the first two lap sprint. Both laps were at 9.4. This is pretty promising and I felt real good too during it. I have gone faster here but it was either from a good relay push or following. So, considering how slow the ice is, I think it is a real good sign.

  Gonna go to the beach now and relax after a reallllly hard practice including tons of relays after the affore-mentioned workout and dryland after.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Yo yo yo,

  I am really liking this family. It is tight, but it is homey! It is very close to the rink and everything is here that I could need. If only I could drive, it would be perfect. Jon and Jean love classical music so I feel good practicing. Jon also likes old jazz and he plays hawaiian music, which is cool.

  I come home sept. 4th. Its official, thanks undescribabally much to my nanny, Lucette!! I do hope and wish and pray to return soon though. I need to because I still have so many technical problems and even if there is no one to train with, Wilma will fix them.

  I just walked to Fresh n Easy, a non-union market which has a lot of good stuff. I got lots of fruit and smoothies to balance allll the carbs I am having. I realized almost everything I eat is packed with Carbs. Power Bars, Lasagna, Pasta, Cereal, Peanut Butter  - everything.

  Jon made these amaaaaazing hawaiian packages of good taste called Spam Musubi. It's Pork and Ham wrapped in rice and seaweed with teriyaki sauce and othe spices. I only had one, but I think more are on the menu for tonight. Man, it's a great change from my specialty: Microwavable Goods From Trader Joe's.

  This morning was, well, not much different...incredibly hard, painful and tiring. I can hardly tell if I am improving because my legs are always so dead. That is normal though for this time of year, I think (and of course, ive definitely improved some with endurance, technique and speed even).

  No way I am doing weights tonight. I will run and work my hamstrings. It has been brought to my attention that the Hamstring is actually a muscle!!! I never knew that! Wil says I have to work them out and get them as strong as my quads and gluts are now. SWo here i go. Seeya.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Tuesday Morning

Hey  - hows life? Hope its good and everything

  It is suuuper hot here, going into the mid nineties today. This morning was the first day back on the ice after a couple days off. Days off are needed but unfortunately they only make the first day back harder, well for most people, not Edin, who is really a machine disguised as an athlete. Normally, we don't have the hardest practice monday after the day off so we all figured after a rare two days off, it would definitely be relays and technique work. That's what made it all the more painful when Wil announced we were doing 15 second sprint intervals and 20 second/ 40-second-rest sprints and then 3 lap accels. I felt so awful in the grueling workout this morning, that I could hardly keep going. I felt almost like throwing up, but I think that is because I ate too late this morning, now that I live sooo close to the rink. I actually felt good technically at some points, but the endurance was just not there.
  Tommaso is gone back to Italy and he lost his luggage on the way there!! That means his Custom Marchese skates as well as all his equipment!

   - weights later, if I can get to the gym, and no stairs tomorrow, which comes at a great time, because it would be too hot to finish tomorrow for sure. We have more rest this week but higher intensity - though we were laughing this morning, as there was absolutely no extra rest any where to be found...though we searched and searched.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hey   sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have been staying wit "Ma" in The Holiday Inn this whole week on the fourth floor and the internet was super slow.

  She has been pretty freaked out by the whole scene around here - haha -  always sunny, the sky is blue and the people are always nice and happy.

  Training is hard as ever, but I have been figuring a lot of stuff out technically. Its really amazing just how much technique is involved. I literally can work 3x as hard one day but have bad technique and another day I will go half a second faster a lap(that's a lot) hardly trying, but having figured something out technically. I actually believe that the amount of sleep I get the night before has a lot to do with my focus on technique. I need 8 hours at least or I lack focus and determination to pin point the little details that make it so much easier to fly.

  I am now in the house of the Uyeharas, though Kyle Uyehara is not here (I am staying in his room). They are super nice - like Super nice. Real laid back and chill. The father, Jon is from Hawaii. He has already made me want to go there as soon as I get the chance. Kyle was one of Wilma's works that was forced to leave her for the Salt Lake City /National Team scene. He was on the National Junior team and he finished 8th in 08 at the Junior Worlds in Bolzano, Italy. In his room, there is a poster check for $250! It looks mighty fine.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

yesterday was possibly the most exciting day so far. I fiiiiiinally understood what the "tilting the hips under" phrase really means. I was able to do the exercises the day before, as I told you, and it was the same yesterday. I just can't believe I have never understood it before. I thought I was good at taking in advice and here, after 8 some odd years of doing this, I just now understand. It makes sense - so much sense but is almost impossible to explain...heck, it took me long enough to get myself! I can simply summarize by saying that it was a huge breakthrough which I really needed and it is super encouraging. I feel like I am on the right path for sure now. Too bad the ice session did not go better. I just cannot for the life of me skate well in the beginning of a session. Always, my skating improves throughout the session. I have also noticed that I generally like long distance a lot better than sprints, although sprinting is super exciting. I really hope I do not strip an edge tomorrow. For those who don't know, Stripping an edge is when the blade rolls over some sort of dirt and basically dulls the blade. The dirtier the ice is, the more strips happen, obviously and the less our edges hold up. This ice is incredibly dirty and we all are having trouble with our blades constantly. Its amazing how people from all over the world come here to Train with Wilma and there is absolutely no attractive feature of the rink we are training at.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Friday morning ice: Only an hour of ice fridays so its always short and sweet. We did a warm-up accel and then 4 laps pretty much all out with a one lap build, then 6 laps at 9.6 with a one lap build then 9 laps at 9.8 and then 13 at 10.2. I got better as the session went on which seems to be a pattern. I am always so stiff in the beginning of the sessions and though I become more fatigued by the end, maybe I relax and loosen up. I think also that the skates give a little by the end. Today I felt soooo good at the beginning of the 13 lapper - like I would have stayed at the front of the pack the whole time, but then my blade stripped about 5 laps into it. Soooo frustrating.
  The dryland was great though. It was 5 times 5 minutes of pain basically with a minute rest in between. For skaters: 30 seconds of weight transfer, 30 secs of skate jumps, which means jumping from one lag to another in base position always having the other leg extended to the side and staying in one place. Then 30 seconds of in-and out two leg jumps, then scissor jumps, then cross jumps and then the same pattern again. The sun was so hot and I was sweating soooo much - it was awesome! I really love the feeling of completing one of those workouts. Although my leg muscles were killing by the end, all these exercises need a certain amount of flexibility and technique and I found it so hard last time we did this that I just stopped and ran instead. This time it started out just as hard but as I got hotter and hotter I became more and more flexible so that I could really do the weight transfer correctly and extremely low - great feeling and not one that I've experienced a lot before - maybe once before, but this was the best.

  Yesterday at weights I got up to 165 lbs in squats with 6 reps. Thats a new high-water mark. It goes up by so much each time though - tomorrow I'll probably do more.

  I am still so uncomfortable at high speeds but I am starting to be able to think a bit more while I am there. That is important because I think I have the strength to stick with these guys some of the time, I just need the technique and to learn how to use the strength. My legs are really getting bigger - I notice it all the time.
  We are going to go to a beach somewhere and have a barbecue today. Laterrr
Some pics from training tuesday - speedwork and drills


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

-Good Nap!
  Okay so what popped into my head just now as I am bouncing around with a much better feeling, or vibe lets say, after a fruitful practice finally this morning is this: Success is measured by failure. I have been having so many bad practices now for maybe a week and a half. What that does is make success come sooo much easier, or rather the feeling of success and progress. I actually did not even have the GReAtest practice, in fact my blade stripped at around 5 after eight, only half way through and after that I skated terribly, not trusting my right skate at all. However before that I was actually skating somewhat! we were doing pure speed all practice, the tuesday norm., starting with 3 3lap accels, then 6x 1 lap build and 1 lap all out, the the same but with two laps all out. Then we did an all out relay with two even teams of four, which was super fun but would have been more fun without the strip. Then a nice easy cool down relay. In between, the elites talked with J.R. and Chris McClaughlin, another Cali skater who is not training right now, but has been sort of clinging around the outskirts of the club. J.R. made another adjustment to my right blade which I think helped. he advised to not fuss too much with the blades until the boots are broken in more and I get a better feel for the ankle area. He said the Best Feel boots are all about getting used to and breaking in the ankles - letting it mold around the ankle. He had a pair.
  In the beginning of the session, I was really having fun just skating fast!! I was a little out of control at times but at others, I was feelin cool and staying with the guys. We did some 9.2s and 9.1s which is fast for me. I am really finding that if you miss one push in the turn, you lose time and space. If my right entering the turn is good but the left gets shorted a bit, well then I end up going way wide out of the turn on two feet and losing ground. Then obviously if I miss the right but have a good left, which is rare, I will lose on the most powerful push in the turn. The first example is most often the case. I think its because if I really trust the left and it gives out on this horrible ice, I will take a painful trip into the boards. The pressure is so high at 9.1 and the margin for error so small!! It's crazy.
  I did get a chance to talk to J.R. a little about Lakewood High.
  The dryland was 4x 30 updowns each leg and then 4x 15 turn cable crossovers. J.R. was giving out lots of pointers to everybody and demonstrating how its done - he's still got it for sure. During the turncable, he told me to look up and immediately it got harder. He stressed working the core because then you can tense them and contract there instead of contracting the shoulders and neck which he said I do a lot of when I skate. From now on, i'll do the turn cable with a loose neck, looking up and swivel the head to make sure its loose. lol. He really is impressive how much he sees, which i guess really means that Wil is impressive. everything always comes back to her it seems which reminds me I have to e-mail her. Latrrr.
Hey so fiiiiiinallllly, this morning's practice felt beneficial. With socks, I managed to get my skates on and off quicker than yesterday which was quicker than the day before. I got on the ice in time for the warm-up relay and I had sharpened very well yesterday so my blades felt good. Also, Tommasso re-adjusted my left blade after my skates were off yesterday. He noticed it was steering out of the turn and moved the front in. It seems to have helped and feels better. J.R. showed up a little into the session and was really handing out great tips to everybody, even Viktor. Him and another injured skater named Alex ran the show as Wilma is in Atl. for a week. It was awesome having J.R. coaching from the side. Though he didn't even get the skates on, he did do some turn cable after and was showing us up doing updowns. haha - he hasn't trained in I don't know how long and in jeans and flat shoes did the updowns better than anybody. Granted he didn't do all, I could tell his technique when he gets down is really special. I HAVE to sleep right now - my eyes are closing but I will write more later - I'm pretty satisfied after this morning - feeling like I wwas feeling before I got the new skates and got sick - more later - now, sleep.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Just taught the kids again. The younger one seems to be taking to it quite well. Made $40 this time. Was out last night until 3 finally checking out the night life at Huntington. The Europeans were all feeling like they were 15 again because they could not go into the clubs. In fact we weren't supposed to be on the street past 10:30. It was funny - I am used to it, but they were just hating America. they always make fun of the U.S. Its funny.
  Gunna go to Huntington again today.
  Just cleaned the stone so we'll see if it helps sharpening - used a towel because Ingmar suggested it over a toothbrush.
  Gotta go to sleep super early and the the pain and suffering picks up again tomorrow. :)

Friday, August 6, 2010

This morning's session was a pretty bad session for me. I had nothing in my legs at all and I did not have enough sleep. We did 5 lap sprints with a one lap build up a ton of times - I think 6x. After we did...well a
  We all went home and then met at Sky's house to go to Huntington Beach. That was paradise as usual. There were even more people out than usual today because the US open of surfing is happening this weekend. There was a whole part of the beach with pavillions and stages and live bands playing and runway shows. A real awesome scene. we played some volleyball, relaxed, went in the water with the buggy boards - the waves are so  nice there. But the amount of people and girls there was just craaaazy. I was really diggin the scene. A fight almost broke out between these two guys and within seconds a huge ring of people was around them on the beach... they ended up just doing a dance off instead.lol. We went parallel to where the bands were playing (Cobra Star Ship was the featured band) and we were just chillin in the ocean with the music playing loud and the base goin - it was sweet - man it was paradise for me.  Later when it started getting chilly, we went out to the end of the pier and ate and then coming back J.R. Celski finally showed up. I saw the scar - it is huge and ugly. He does not seem at all like he wants to train any time soon and I would be surprised to see him at the rink at all honestly.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

After the ice we had to do 3x 60 meters turn cable then 100meters low walks.
  Today I did weights again. Lots of core work as well. It's really just endless the amount of ways you can push yourself. After a while I just feel like a rubber band being stretched further and further. Last night ( wed. night) we did a super circuit. 20 minutes of different exercises, every 5 minutes a minute plank position, and at the end a two minute plank position. Iy reminded me of a basketball camp, going around the gym to different stations. There were various jumps: two-legged base position jumps, two legged tuck jumps, side jumps with a one legged tuck jump and just plain tuck jumps. There was low-walks, dryskating, everything! for 20 minutes! After stairs that morning and 110 laps that night!!!
 It gets crazy how much pain we put up with every day. You have to be really smart which I'm finding out can be hard when you don't have enough experience to know what smart is. But I am just really happy to be here and my legs are getting bigger for sure. Goodnight
So this morning was 1000m time trials. I did a 1:34.2 which is pretty slow - much slower than my personal best of 131.8. I am not worried though because the lap times were pretty steady, I just started too slow. ( I never did faster than 9.9 and slower than 10.8). My opening lap was too slow - 12.0 and I think as usual it was just difficult for me to fire up the engines at 7 in the morning, less than 12 hours after a real tough workout last night. Also, I am on the new skates so I am still a bit tentative when i am not comfortable, if that makes sense and the ice is super slow. Viktor did it in 1:30.1 and Tommasso in 131.2. wilma is reminding to not expect too much of myself because my legs are dead, which is how it should be in the summer and I was also sick for a week last week. so I guess I'm okay with that time. The practice was not by any means over after. We did 15 on 15 off sprints x 10 and then 20/40 sprints. I'll write more later hopefully. Now i have to go to the gym. I am laughing at the amount of pain this sport dishes out. Today it took me around 10 minutes to get my skates off again and Wil is getting frustrated cus i'm always late. :) Tough sport. Gotta be hard.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Heyya,
Coming to you live from what seems like the South of France but what is really coach Wilma's house. Stairs this morning was killer of course especially after doing weights for real last night. By the way, Ingmar said my technique on the squats and pulls is very impressive for a beginner and that i'll be lifting as much as him in no time. I squatted as much as 115 lbs, eight reps - twice. We did a bunch of core and pulls as well - I won't go into the technique for each. But back to this cool house, it doesn't look like much from the front but the interior is so cool. It's a one story flat. It is very long and there is one snaking hallway with a bunch of rooms. There are cool posters all over the walls of Wil's skaters over the years and of various articles and coaching prizes. Outside, there is a small little pool and an overhang where you can get out of the sun. Then there is a huge hill - almost a cliff in steepness - with various foliage, green, red and green, and at the top of the hill a terrace with little tables and a hammock. Half of the terrace is under cover and half out.
Let me tell you that Wilma deserves it. She has got to be the hardest working single mom out there. Her daughter Zoe is an aspiring actress and her son Quinn is a basketball phenom and when she is not coaching she is taking them all over the place and back. She had 15 minutes today to rest - total.
Looks like J.R. will be at the rink fri. but it's always changing.
Practice tonight and then the super quick turnaround tommorow morning and a 1000m time trial! *shiiver*

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Some Great News

Hey again

I forgot to mention the best news so far:
I taught a cello lesson Sunday. i don't know how I havn't written anything about it yet. They came at around 11: 30am and we went for over an hour. There was one half size cello between the two boys and it was superbly out of tune and hard to tune. One boy is 10 and the other 13. They are raw beginners and I think they are not so enthusiastic about learning to play. But that is okayyyy. I made $60! In a little over an hour. I'll take it. They are scheduled to come back next Sunday so i guess it was a success. Thank you Reagans ( I miss you guys) for giving me valuable teaching experience.

Analyzing "the sickness" and catching up ye'aaaaal!l!

So (knock on wood) that weird sickness is gone!!! (I think that deserves 3 exclamation marks). I'm still not sure half of it wasn't mental, but I was talking to Wilma yesterday. She explained how it is actually common to get sick on the last day of a five day rest period which was the case with my timing. The body has been on so many ups and downs throughout, in my case, the toughest, most rigorous 3-week physical output of my life. Though there were some bad days, I was always pushing 100% so my output was at the highest plateau possible. Then, all of a sudden, the body is thrust into a whole new cycle of, say, lazing on the beach all day, hanging out, and maybe taking a jog every other day for 5 days. The intensity level being dropped from 100% to maybe, 20%, though necessary, can mess up the body's habits and it becomes super sensitive to attacking bacteria, thus getting sick very easily and having trouble acting against it. So once the bad bacteria enters the system it is there for a while. This is my understanding of it. It makes sense thinking back on how it all went down for me: I Got the sickness Sunday night. Though i felt great physically and mentally Monday morning, it was kind of a false feeling from the rest and throughout that day, I felt worse and worse. Monday through Wednesday was the worst in terms of the actual illness - cold sweats, headaches and all - yet I was kind of participating in the training. I thought I was getting better after Thursday morning's practice, after pushing through a little of the practice, but not as much as I could. I am thinking now that my body was getting back into the 100% mode and accepting reluctantly the new plateau, firing up the rusty cylinders. I probably should have pushed all out that morning but I couldn't anyway because I was struggling so much with the new boots. Though of course I was enthralled to receive those beautiful pieces of art, they probably came at the wrong time because I could not push all the way when that was in fact what my body needed to get back into the cycle and push out the illness. Later that day I was feeling terrible again. That afternoon I skipped weights with Ingmar, who is by the way an expert with the weights and a generally knowledgeable dude. Then I missed the following morning's practice and after ice training, instead sleeping in and doing nothing the whole day. Saturday I was mystified as to why I was not feeling better. I missed that training as well. The Sunday off-day, I still felt ill, but although it was annoying at the time, that day probably turned it around - stay with me, almost done here. It was Lexi's birthday and we went to Outback steakhouse. I jogged there with Ingmar, Alex, and Lexi, against my novice instincts which naturally were telling me to keep resting. I of course felt horrid and pretty bad the rest of the day. I went home and slept after the meal. I had determined that no matter what I was going to morning ice Monday morning but I wanted to get my eight hours of sleep for the 5am wake-up. So i said I'd make dinner that night to make it real early while the family was out at church. While I was sleeping, they stole out the house, lol, and I woke up and could not find the key to Ingmar's car to go to the store. I had to walk the whole way there and back. I kinda got really mad, not at anybody, just at my problems in general and stormed all the way there - maybe 1.5 miles - and did the shopping and stormed back. This unfortunately wasted a bunch of time and I didn't get to sleep until 10 or so but I went to sleep feeling more active and more fresh. I was super rested so yesterday morning was bad training, not due to lack of sleep, but do to the rest my body had starting that Thursday when I didn't push all the way. when I started getting that familiar dizziness after a while, I realized I should just push through because it was just a dizziness, no sick feeling - well, not as bad at least. I made it through and through beach training as well, getting better as it went on. I put you through this mono tonal text just to kind of recap for myself how it went down. You see now though that its not just a matter of pushing through the pain. Its a matter of yes, doing that but also doing it smartly and listening to every unusual act of the body and trying to make sense of it. Obviously it will get easier with experience - I will never make the mistake I made last week but then again, my body will be stronger from it next time and I'll be ready. More than a commitment, this is a lifestyle.
The skates are getting easier to wear and this morning I was able to get my foot in with the same socks on as those that the mold was done in. It was practically impossible to get them off. It took me half an hour! Lucky i got off early.
I got off early because yesterday I made another mistake i'll never make again. I went to Beach Training and after i was so hungry my stomach was churning. So naturally when I did finally eat, my stomach went crazy. The place i ate was part of the problem, i still maintain. It was an all-you-can eat bar, but basically vegetarian. It didn't have any good meat and didn't have any good carbs like pasta. I went to sleep with a stomach ache and woke up at 1 in the morning. I took some strong french advil which i still have from Exchange and it slooowly went away but in the morning my stomach was still cranky. I didn't have enough sleep so on the ice I didn't last long. However- I for the first time realized the potential these Best Feel skates hold. I can tell we will certainly be getting along juuust fine as time goes forward. It's too bad I was again feeling less than great because the workout I was on for was pretty cool: 5 laps. Person in back passes to front sometime before two laps to go. When pass is completed, it is an all out race to the finish. The first couple is when i felt the skates pulling me through the corners. I still have some blade work to take care of, but the skates are getting there. We did the 5 laps 6x and then I got off. I wrestled with my skates for half an hour, laid down for 10 minutes and then we did the knee-ups/sprints and a long jog. i felt close to normal by the end. Got weights this afternoon.

I have been sucked into the car world more now that I am in a place where you see almost all the cars you read about and see on shows! lol. Orange County, baby. I am getting into top gear with those ridiculous british accents. hahaha - how they always make the british cars look good. They love the new Ferrari 458. It does make one's mouth water.

I slept for three hours this morning after practice. i was dreaming like crazy and it reminded of one night when i woke up laughing hysterically. I can't remember the dream, but I just know I was laughing for a good like 10 seconds and when I woke up I couldn't stop laughing. I've been watching a lot of Chapelle Show lately - maybe that was it.
All-right, that's all for now. I'll try to do more short posts so i don't have to write these novels. okay, class dismissed!